A prominent Bridgnorth businessman claims that controversial proposals for a big overhaul of the town’s High Street are blinkered and would kill trade.
Wayne Vernon, who runs Liage opticians and was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, says the civic society wants to turn Bridgnorth “into a spectacle rather than a working town”.
The society suggested a package last week that including banning traffic from the street on Saturdays and possibly Sundays, moving Smithfield stalls to High Street and allowing a number of outdoor cafes.
Mr Vernon said they should look at Telford towns Dawley, Wellington and Madeley who “have suffered from interference and pedestrianisation and are all shadows of their former selves.”
He claims that since the Whitburn Street relief road opened High Street shops had become quieter. And he added that shops on the present High Street stall side were not as busy as on the other side of the street because people were looking at the stalls and not the shops.He said many locals avoided going into town on Saturdays because of problems parking.
“Do we want a town that is useless to the locals but attracts tourists, or do we want a useful town that happens to appeal to tourists?” he asked.“It seems to that the civic society want to make Bridgnorth pretty and entertaining.
“This is supposed to be a working market town and as such needs a mixture of businesses to service the locals - not look pretty and be full of useless nic-nacs and eateries.”
Mr Vernon agreed with the society that there were cases where shop fronts should be tidied and hideous signs altered.
He stressed that he did not think the society had got everything wrong and didnt rule out consideration of some of their suggestions.
*See letters(page 
in this week’s Bridgnorth Journal.